Russia in the sights of the UN Human Rights Council for invading Ukraine

Ukraine, which gained broad support on Monday for holding an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Council on Russia’s invasion of its territory, stepped up pressure against Moscow by submitting a draft resolution for an international investigation.

However, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, canceled his visit to Geneva due to “anti-Russian sanctions” that prohibit him from flying over the European Union (EU). On Tuesday he had to participate in the Human Rights Council and in the Conference on Disarmament.

The military offensive decreed by Vladimir Putin marked the opening of the 49th session.

“The escalation of military operations by the Russian Federation in Ukraine entails a resurgence of human rights violations,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video message at the opening of the meeting.

“Throughout history, there have been moments of profound gravity that have divided events into a before and an after, very different and more dangerous. We are facing an episode of this type”, highlighted the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.

The former Chilean president also said she had been aware of the death of 102 civilians, including seven children, since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, and warned that the real data was “considerably” higher.

“Most of these civilians were killed by long-range explosive weapons, especially heavy artillery fire, missile launchers and shelling,” he explained.

A commission similar to the one in Syria

The Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko indicated the balance of the Ministry of Health of her country, with more than 350 fatalities, including 16 children, and some 1,700 injured.

In the urgent debate on this conflict, the Ukrainian delegation will ask for the creation of an investigative commission, similar to the one that already exists for the war in Syria.

Ukraine, according to the draft resolution, asks UN experts to investigate human rights violations committed in Crimea and in the separatist territories of Lugansk and Donetsk since 2014, and also in the rest of the country since 2022.

Russia, which was opposed to holding this urgent debate, moved to put the proposal to a vote. Finally, it was approved with 29 votes in favor, 5 against -including China, Cuba and Venezuela, in addition to Russia- and 13 abstentions (the Council has 47 members).

The result of the vote is proof that “Russia is completely isolated within the Council,” said the US ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Sheba Crocker.

The heads of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, and that of the EU, Josep Borrell, will intervene on Tuesday in the Council with their respective video messages.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will do the same on Wednesday.

“They are not credible”

Putin announced on February 24 the invasion of Ukraine, with aerial bombardments and the deployment of ground troops in various parts of the country, including an offensive against the capital Kiev.

More than 500,000 Ukrainians fled the country to avoid the fighting and took refuge in neighboring states, according to the latest UN balance published on Monday.

“Let’s be clear, the Russian Federation’s attempts to legitimize its action are not credible. There was no provocation that justifies such an intervention”, criticized Ignazio Cassis, president of Switzerland, at the beginning of the debates in the UN Council.